


Nightmares And Blue Whales

by ConfusedStateOfMind



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Couch Cuddles, F/M, Fluff, Nightmares, Percy Jackson is a Dork, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Sleepy Cuddles, They are just two kids forced to grow up too fast, Touch-Starved Annabeth Chase, mild PTSD, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27854242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConfusedStateOfMind/pseuds/ConfusedStateOfMind
Summary: “Couldn't sleep?” Despite his smile, she could see the exhaustion on his face. The dark circles under his eyes, he didn't seem to have had any better luck with sleep than her. His hair was a mess too, more so than usual. Annabeth probably wasn't looking too cheery herself.——The night after coming back through the Doors of Death, Annabeth and Percy are struggling with the nightmares and trauma of their trip through Tartarus.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 121





	Nightmares And Blue Whales

She woke up screaming, though no one seemed to hear. That was a relief, it would've been beyond embarrassing. Annabeth got up out of bed and rubbed her arms with her hands, trying to calm the goosebumps crawling all over her body. The nightmares never stopped as a demigod, though her experience in Tartarus augmented the terror. Her eyes adjusted to the dark as she looked around her cabin. Percy had a point, it  _ was _ incredibly dull. Nothing to distract herself from the nightmares. She let out a small groan. Staying there would be impossible for her ADHD brain to cope with, especially with all the heightened nerves from her less than pleasant dream.

Annabeth walked to the door as quietly as she could with all the nightmare adrenaline coursing through her. She avoided the creaking parts of the flooring that were known to make noises, she would've had her ass handed to her if any of her friends saw her outside her cabin, what with Coach being gone and having the extra factor of being once caught asleep with Percy in the stables before her quest to find the Mark of Athena. Before Tarturus. 

A shiver went through her.

She’d barely gotten any sleep that night, it was her first night back on the Argo II. Her head felt foggy and her limbs weak. She looked around only to realise she had shuffled a good few meters down the hall from her room. Annabeth's adrenaline had finally run its course so she had next to no energy to have a full walk around the ship, and she was ready to pass out from exhaustion. She felt as though she hadn’t had a good night’s rest in a million years. Her last sleep was fucked up since it was plagued with nightmares and surrounded by death and misery, so it definitely did not count in her book. 

And although sleep sounded wonderful, she didn’t know if she could actually get a single wink. She had kept replaying the events of this week in her head since she and Percy had passed through the doors of death, and she couldn’t seem to stop. Annabeth had to keep blinking to remind herself that she was on the Argo II and not in the depths of literal hell.  _ Relax. Everything is fine. You're fine. _

She took in a sharp breath. She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there in the hall, but by the time she snapped herself out of her thoughts her legs were aching. Annabeth was about to turn back and go to her room when she heard noises coming from the mess hall.

Taking cautious steps, she walked into the room to find Percy sitting alone on the couch, his gaze fixed on the screen in front of him. She didn't know what he was watching, but it had something to do with the ocean. Annabeth took another step closer before he noticed her hovering. He offered her a sheepish grin. 

“Couldn't sleep?” Despite his smile, she could see the exhaustion on his face. The dark circles under his eyes, he didn't seem to have had any better luck with sleep than her. His hair was a mess too, more so than usual. Annabeth probably wasn't looking too cheery herself. 

Percy looked older too. Not ancient,  _ I’m-on-my-deathbed-and-i-have-a-ten-grandkids _ older, he looked around college age instead of his almost age of seventeen. It worried her. 

“Not as long as I hoped.” She crossed her arms over her chest remembering the look on his face as he used  Akhlys’ poison against the goddess. Another shiver went up her spine. 

“Want to talk about it?” Percy asked, sitting up straighter to get a good look at her face. Sometimes talking can help, but she shook her head. She didn't want to make him feel worse. 

Percy held out his arms, inviting her to sit with him, and without a moment's hesitation she walked straight into them. Annabeth thought back to when they were in Tartarus, how she clung to him as the Arais’ curses slowly poisoned him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck before the poison could come back and drain the life from his body again. 

When his lips came into contact with her neck, she failed to suppress the small sob that came through her lips. That never used to happen before. It was just a kiss, but having her nerves kicked into overdrive, the lack of sleep, and the nightmares all jumbled together left her emotionally vulnerable. 

The warmth that radiated from the spot made her want to burst into tears.

Percy had that effect on her, long before Hera took him away too. She only realized how touch starved she was until they started dating.

The sob alarmed him, causing Percy to immediately looked at her with confusion and fear, thinking he had done something wrong. Apologizing, he started to pull away from her when she grabbed his arm, “No, Percy.” She looked at him pleadingly, desperately pulling him back. “Im sorry, I just..” 

His fearful gaze softened. “Hey,” He whispered softly, “It’s alright. You don't need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong” 

Percy wrapped her in his arms as a few tears fell down her cheeks, and pulled her so close she could hear his heartbeat. That mixed with the feeling of his hands move up and down her back made her almost forget the situation they were in. She rested her head in the crook of his neck and exhaled unevenly. 

“You don't need to apologize for not feeling ok, and you don't need to tell me anything you don't want to.” He mumbled into her hair.

Percy pulled away again to look at her, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. 

“I just want you to know that i'll always be here for you. You can tell me anything, Annabeth.” He held her there, and she reminded herself that this was not a dream. This is a reality and she was actually here. 

Tartarus was behind her and she was  _ here _ . 

Annabeth sniffed, subliminally taking her boyfriend's hand in hers and started to trace her finger on his palm. She had a tendency to do this, and it helped Percy too. With his hyperactive ADHD brain, the feeling helped keep him grounded. 

Annabeth closed her eyes for just a moment, chest heaving, trying to remind herself that it was  _ okay _ to close her eyes. Nothing was going to jump out at her.

“I’d ask if you were alright, but that would be a stupid question,” Percy said softly in his good humoured way, trying to lighten the mood and it almost was enough to bring a smile to her face.

“I just can't get the images out of my mind.” She took a shaky breath, eyes focusing on the lines on Percy's hand. “Some are real, like Nyx's darkness, or Bob fighting Tartarus, some not real, like you dying of the Arais poison curses.” She didn’t mention Akhlys, or how badly she was scared of him in the moment _.  _ It wasn’t him, though. Tartarus had corrupted him. 

“There’s just a lot to process, I feel it goes for the both of us,” Annabeth said, running her other hand over her face. “It's hard to remind myself that we’re not  _ there  _ anymore. And that we’re so close to defeating Gaia.”

Percy was staring straight ahead, as if deep in thought, and nodded slightly against the top of her head. 

“I know what you mean. I keep seeing….” He shook his head, clearing whatever he was thinking about out of his mind.

“What matters is that we survived, and we did it together. No matter what happens, we’ll have each other.” She didn’t answer, but nodded childishly against him. 

He let out a small sigh and sat up. 

“Come on, Wise Girl, let’s… let’s get some sleep.” Percy gave her a little rub on her back. “We’ve more than earned it.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep at all,” Annabeth said, and she didn't even care how weak she sounded. Percy doesn't judge her for it too. She loves him for that.

“You can’t  _ not _ sleep,” Percy countered. “That'll do you more harm than good. Besides, we’ve got a lot to do before we face Gaia. Waking from a bunch of nightmares is better than living in a fucked up, sleep-deprived state.”

“You’re one to talk, seeing as though you are doing the exact same thing.” She tried to scowl, but the look of defeat on Percy's face made her scared she'd gone too far. She looked down.

Percy let out a tired sigh. “Annabeth-”

“Let’s just stay here a while, ok? I don’t think I can go back to my cabin for a while.”

Percy went quiet for a moment and she held her breath, until he looked down at her and leaned slightly forward, with higher spirits in his eyes. 

“If the others catch us again, we’re fucked.”

She let out a small laugh and weakly nudged him with her shoulder. “At this point, I don’t care anymore.” 

To that, he wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her so that Annabeth was leaning onto his chest. She inhaled deeply and smiled as the scent of the sea overwhelmed her. She turned her attention to the tv and raised an eyebrow. She mumbled against his chest, “What are you watching?”

Percy tilted his head slightly. 

“Eh, some documentary about the migration of blue whales.”

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise and managed a small smirk. “Really? I didn’t peg you for a guy who watched documentaries.”

Her boyfriend let out a small chuckle. 

“What can i say? You’re starting to rub off on me. I can turn it off if you’d like-“

She shook her head in the crook of his neck, smiling softly. “No no, it’s alright, it looks interesting.”

They laid there for a while, the voice of the documentary’s narrator mixed with the soft breathing of the two demigods were the only sounds filling the room. It  _ was _ the middle of the night after all. 

After some time, Percy spoke up.

“They don’t mention this in the documentary, but did you know that the blue whale's scientific name is Balaenoptera musculuscan? They can weigh more than 200 tons and stretch up to 100 feet long.”

“That's terrifying.” She hummed with amusement, listening to every word that came out of his mouth, though her eyelids started to droop. Eventually Percy took wind of this and stopped.

“You look pretty tired, Beth. Maybe you should go back to your cabin. Try to get some sleep.”

_ You don't look so good yourself _ , she thought. Though she didn't say it. As much as she didn’t want to acknowledge it, she couldn't stay awake forever. She let out a small grumble as Percy moved slightly to turn off the tv. Annabeth shook her head and leaned closer to Percy as he tried to move her off his chest. “Tell me more facts about the ocean.”

Letting out a sigh, he started to speak again, talking about different currents, tides and species of marine life, which ones were his favourites and which ones he didn't like due to  _ very _ specific reasons. 

Annabeth smiled, thinking about New Rome, attending college where Percy would study marine life or oceanography, they could move in together, have a future. Despite the circumstances of this never ending crummy week, she felt giddy.

His voice was the only sound that filled the mess hall, along with the sound of his heartbeat next to her ear. The heat radiating from him was soothing and Percy’s voice lulled her to relax. Annabeth hung onto every word, humming softly at the facts she thought were interesting, nodding at the ones she already knew but loved to hear him tell her. Soon her eyes grew cloudy and Percy's voice got farther away. Slowly Annabeth closed her eyes.

Percy stopped talking when he noticed she had stopped responding, he moved a strand of hair from her face. 

“I love you.” She mumbled, barely loud enough for him to hear her. 

Percy let out a breathy laugh. “I love you too. Now for the love of the Gods, get some sleep.” 

Not in the mood to argue, Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes again. Percy smiled and twisting himself over, he gave Annabeth a proper kiss good night.


End file.
